Official catalogue of the 1862 International Exhibition, a spectacle of vast proportions promoting the products and manufacturing of Britain and her colonies. All Australian colonies were well represented, with their displays listed in the third volume of this set.

Official catalogue of the 1862 International Exhibition, a spectacle of vast proportions promoting the products and manufacturing of Britain and her colonies. All Australian colonies were well represented, with their displays listed in the third volume of this set.These lavishly printed volumes include the history of the International Exhibitions from their inception in 1851 onwards, including charming steel-engraved plates of the pavilions and a detailed floor plan showing the location of British and Colonial manufacturers. The range of products and commodities is impressive, from dried beetle wings through to firefighting engines. This publication is of special interest to collectors of antique furniture and wares. Cabinet makers, jewellers, gold and silver-smiths, weavers, upholsterers and all manner of trades were generously represented at the exhibition, effectively forming a descriptive trade directory for Britain and the colonies for this period.The third volume, sub-titled Colonial and Foreign Divisions, describes Australian and New Zealand displays in some detail, revealing an extensive range of raw and manufactured goods, including woods for cabinet making, resins and natural products, decorative stone and an impressive range of gold and geological samples from the Victorian fields (two statuettes of an emu and kangaroo crafted from pure Australian gold are illustrated). Some familiar faces emerge, for example Mr. Ronald Gunn offers aromatic woods from Tasmania, while Mrs. Meredith displays 'watercolour paintings of flowers of Tasmanian trees, shrubs and plants, framed in muskwood'. On a more sombre note, other displays included photographs and statuette busts Tasmanian Aborigines, as well as native crafts such as dilly bags, carvings and the like. Also exhibited were animal pelts from the platypus, possum and tiger-cat of Tasmania (thylacine).